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20091215

Eye surgeon’s eyes gouged by attackers

Dr Marius Pretorius ‘may never have normal vision again'

Vereeniging – Dec 15 2009 – One of South Africa’s top eye surgeons -- who for 21 years was president of the International Intraocular Society -- might never be able to see normally again after a brutal attack in which the gang tried to gouge out his eyes, reports Louise Cook.

Marius Pretorius, 70, and his wife Lien, 68, were overpowered in their Vereeniging flat last week by three men armed with guns and knives. They tied up both victims with rope and ties, before trying to strangle Mrs Pretorius. It’s not known from this report whether anything was robbed in the attack.

The couple's daughter, Hannelie Warren, said on Monday they tried to gouge out her dad's eyes. The attackers apparently said they didn’t want him to see again and identify them to the police.

"One attacker sat on my dad's back and smoked a cigarette while he was tied down. My dad has horrific injuries - he may never have normal vision again."

'Severely traumatised'Warren said Pretorius was still in hospital. The muscles behind his eyes were damaged and specialists aren't sure whether the muscles will recover sufficiently for him to have normal vision again. Warren said her parents were severely traumatised and receiving counselling.

No arrests have been made and Warren accused the police of dragging their feet. Pretorius, speaking from the Emfuleni Medi-Clinic in Vanderbijlpark, said on Monday evening that since the attack almost six days ago, police had not interviewed him about what had happened. "They only spoke to my wife. No one has been to ask me any questions," he said.

'This is appalling'Warren said people in the building where the attack had taken place and who saw the attackers before and after the incident had also not been approached by police in a bid to gather any evidence."This is appalling," she added.

The term "genocide" was coined by legal scholar Raphael Lemkin in 1943, writing:

'Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actionsaiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves.

The objectives of such a plan would be the disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of personal security, liberty, health, dignity and lives of the members of such groups... '